Diving into the Wreck
by lightness and weight
Summary: Moments in the life of Cassiopeia Black. Written for MioneWazlib's prompt challenge: 100 stories, each in 30 words or less.
1. one through ten

_Disclaimer: The Harry Potter books and all the characters mentioned therein belong to JK Rowling, not me...and the title is a reference to a poem by Adrienne Rich._

* * *

**Reality Check: **

"You really think they'll throw me out? I'm still a pureblood." Cassiopeia scoffed, "Marius, Mother literally threw you out of a window."

"Yes, but…that's tradition." — "Well, so is disowning squibs."

* * *

**Absolutely Alone: **

Cousin Arcturus has died, and Cassiopeia, the only Black still bearing the name and right of inheritance, finds her status as Head of Family less than satisfying.

* * *

**Prince Charming: **

"Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Yule Ball," Abraxas asks with a bow, his green eyes disarmingly bright.

She surprises herself by smiling. "Yes."

* * *

**Virgin: **

"Mother says it will hurt." _Of course she does, _Cassiopeia thinks spitefully. _Your father is a sadist. _

Aloud, she assures Callidora, "Harfang is a gallant," and tactfully changes the subject.

* * *

**Good Question: **

"But don't you want to have a family of your own?" Dorea has never understood her refusal to marry.

Cassiopeia musters her coldest glare: "I already have a family."

* * *

**Can You Hear Me: **"

CAN YOU HEAR ME?" She misses him enough that she's stooped to using a telephone.

"Loud and clear, Cassie," her younger brother snickers. "Nice to know some things never change."

* * *

**I'm Telling: **

"I'm telling!" Her cousin whines, as if their parents would actually care.

Honesty, Cedrella is such a goody two-shoes; Cassiopeia sometimes wonders if they are related at all.

* * *

**Out of Control: **

She resents how out of control he makes her feel.

And she resents herself, in turn, for pushing him away, as punishment—because it's not his fault.

* * *

**I Love You: **

She is 73, he is 75, and they are both ill with dragon pox when she finally tells him, "I love you. I always have."

Two days later, Abraxas dies.

* * *

**Willingness: **"Where there's a will, there's a way." Cassiopeia's not sure whether or not she believes that.

In any case, her perpetual ambivalence makes it a moot point.


	2. eleven through twenty

**Drunk:**

Cassiopeia doesn't often feel shame, but she does this morning, in the aftermath of her intoxication.

Little Sirius shrinks away from her, and Alphard watches her with sad, knowing eyes.

* * *

**Dysfunctional: **

"Ah—oooh—OOOOH!" Irma's moaning is loud, even muffled by the charmed wall.

Ten-year-old Cassiopeia resolves to sleep in the nursery from now on, because it's farther from Pollux's room.

* * *

**Don't Leave Me: **

The day after graduating from Hogwarts, Cassiopeia is nearly finished packing—and double-checking she has her passport—when

Walburga runs in and dramatically wails, "Don't leave me!"

* * *

**With All My Heart:**

"Marry you? Why? It's not as if you love me."

"Of course I love you," Abraxas bites out, sounding choked. "With all my heart."

Very pointedly, she does not reciprocate.

* * *

**Sickness:**

Her sister explains: "When I had Vanishing Sickness—I was pregnant. My uterus vanished.

And today the Healer told us—that I—I might not be able to—"

* * *

**Honor: **

Charlus Potter is possibly the most honorable man under 60 she has ever met—which is a pity.

But, for Dorea's sake, she tries to like him, scruples and all.

* * *

******Dreamt: **

The nightmare's meaning eludes her_—__she and her siblings are very young, happily dancing on a hill near Hogwarts; _

_only Cassiopeia realizes they are dancing on a mass grave—_

* * *

**Squeaky Clean: **

Of all the trivial bits of information she learns about Abraxas over the years, her favorite is that he uses cosmetic charms.

And brushes his teeth six times a day.

* * *

**Modesty:**

"Beautiful," the painter murmurs, watching intently as she slips off her robe to pose, nude.

"Obviously," Cassiopeia retorts with a smirk and a saucy jerk of her chin.

* * *

**Cuts: **

"Beautiful," Uncle Archie says of the livid red as he cuts into her chest;

Elladora drags in a terrified Marius—locks the door. "Let's all have some fun, shall we?"


	3. twentyone through thirty

**Disaster: **

"What a disaster," she remarks to Lycoris about Walburga and Orion's wedding:

while the bride gazed lustfully at her sister-in-law Druella, the groom danced the entire night with Minerva McGonagall.

* * *

**Turned Off: **

"I can't stay the night, this time," he sighs into her hair. "Ludivine's birthday is tomorrow."

Cassiopeia steps back abruptly—he reaches out to touch her—"Don't," she snaps.

* * *

**Unfaithful:**

Seeing Abraxas with his young wife…rankles.

Which is ludicrous.

He needed an heir, and for the 20 years leading up to his marriage, Cassiopeia refused to provide him with one.

* * *

**Anger Welling:**

"No, you were too busy being a cold-blooded shrew!—you're still a shrew!"

Her anger subsides, overtaken by fond mirth. She taunts, "That's the best you can do, Abraxas, really?"

* * *

**To Save a Life: **

"Please, come quickly! It's Bella—she's overdosed!" Narcissa's frantic face appears in the Floo.

"Well! On what," Cassiopeia demands. At that, her great-niece falters:

"It's—at least, I think…Amortentia."

* * *

**Study Sessions: **

Horace Slughorn, the second year Cassiopeia tutors in potions, is rubbish at interpreting social cues.

For example: when she starts calling him Slug, he thinks it means she likes him.

* * *

**Fresh: **

Breathing in the tepid, magic-laced air of this temperate rainforest, Cassiopeia begins to know what freedom feels like.

After a year of traveling abroad, she finally begins to heal.

* * *

**I Remember: **

"Times like this, I miss Grandfather Phineas," Lycoris confides.

"He was stern—but sweet, in his way. And so very shrewd—he'd see the problem, and solve it. "

* * *

**Left Out: **

James Potter does not invite her to his wedding, despite that she, his aunt, is his closet living relation.

The temptation to send a Howler is strong, but she resists.

* * *

** T****ransportation: **

When the German Ministry restricts outgoing international travel for "The Greater Good", Cassiopeia is in Dusseldorf.

For the first time, she truly appreciates _Toujours Pur_.

(It saves her life.)


End file.
